tips?

[KatieLavender]

my nintendo switch is arriving this week and i was wondering if anybody had any tips for whenever i start my new horizons island? : )

 

[Firesquids]

Have you played an Animal Crossing game before or will this be your first?

 

[KatieLavender]

Have you played an Animal Crossing game before or will this be your first?

ive played new leaf for a good couple of years

 

[Firesquids]

ive played new leaf for a good couple of years

Okay, so unlike NL you can actually pick where your villager houses, Nook's Cranny (basically T&T mart), Able sisters, and Museum are located. However you are stuck with the original location of your Resident Services and Airport. You also cant move where your rivers connect to the ocean. If I was to start over I would try to plan out where you want your buildings to go and pick a good island layout that's easy to navigate with enough space to put those building where you want.
You can destroy the rocks in your town by eating fruit and then hitting them with a shovel or ax and then they will show up in a random spot starting the next day, so don't worry too much about their location. (if you don't tt, I reccomend not breaking your rocks as iron and stone are needed a lot early game and you'll have to wait days for them to respawn for easy access to those resources)
Also there's no perfect fruit in this game so it doesn't matter as much which fruit you start with. You will have 1 native fruit and one native flower, you will also have a secondary fruit and flower you can find on mystery island, but you will have to trade for the rest if you want them all.

Also you get an airport in one of four colors, if that's import to you. They come in blue, yellow, orange, and green, they are locked as soon as you start a new game

 

[Bluesaphiria]

The only thing I'd say as far as progressing your island is savor every single material you get, hold it like its your long lost child. When I started I sold the material and made them into silly things and I hated myself later. Oh and I'd pick an island with a big starting area since you only get access to a small portion at first, you can always terraform later. If you need bells, tickets, or fruit or anything I am more then happy to give you some!

 

[JellyBeans]

I think one of the best tips i can give is take your time designing, and try not to get too caught up on comparing yourself to other people's islands!! especially now a year in there are so many people with gorgeous islands so it's easy to lose motivation but as long as you're designing your island in the way that you are happy with nothing else matters.
and also what everybody else has said above! hold onto every resource (wood, branches, stone etc) because even if you need the slight help with bells short term it's not worth the kicking yourself when you're one iron short of making a better shovel lol

 

[Marshmallows]

Your native fruit doesn't matter at all really. (Just appears on your passport, if you care about that.)
Your airport color determines some of your Nook Mile colors.

Spoiler

Just the first 4 groups, the rest is random.

You can't move resident services or the river mouths, so that's the most important when choosing an island. You can remove and add lakes/rivers wherever you want.
I wouldn't worry too much about who your starting villagers are, because they start with very basic/empty houses (not their real house) which you may not like.
Nintendo Online is definitely worth it to be able to have a dream address, visit dreams and friends, and trade.

Most of all, just have fun and enjoy it.

 

[-Lumi-]

I'll probably miss a few things but I'll throw out some tips that I can think of. As a whole though New Horizons is a lot more forgiving than New Leaf is!

-Getting Nintendo Online is 100% worth it for New Horizons. The ability to visit dreams, visit friends, download patterns from creators online, and trade items with other people make the experience infinitely better in my opinion!

-Don't stress about your town fruit or the way you make your character look. I know I stressed over these a lot in New Leaf because they mattered a lot more. You'll be able to get all the fruit eventually (I think you need online or to at least play with another person to get every fruit type though) and perfect fruit don't exist in this game. You're able to craft a mirror so you can change you hair/eyes/mouth/etc. whenever you want!

-Don't stress over house/building placements, either. With the exception of your airport and city hall everything else can be moved! Your house, the villagers houses, and the shops you build can all be moved at a later date (for a fee). The only exception being your airport and city hall are stuck where they are. The airport colour also helps determine certain colour Nook Miles items you get! I don't think it determines every colour but it affects some of them. You should be able to look up a chart online!

-Your Nook Miles items as well as items sold in Nooks will only ever be from one colour family (ie: If you see them selling the cute bed in pink it means all the cute furniture they sell you will be pink). Sometimes you'll get a different coloured item from a balloon drop but in general you'll have to trade with other people to get different colours. Crafted furniture has more wiggle room and you can usually customize their colours!

-Don't stress over ponds/rocks! I remember playing New Leaf and analyzing the maps to see which ones had the fewest ponds/best placed ponds and then running around to get an idea where the rocks are. They aren't an issue in New Horizons! You can demolish both rocks and ponds which is a life saver. However there are some other permanent things that may affect your island! Your island has two river mouths, a secret beach, a pier/dock, a longer stretch of land on one bit of your island, and your beaches have rocks that can't be moved/altered so keep those placements in mind.

-You'll have two starting villagers and they'll always be a mix of a jock & an uchi/sisterly. You can reset if there is a specific jock or uchi you're after but you'll never get a lazy, normal, snooty, or smug to start with. Speaking of starting villagers though your first five, I think? They all have something called a, "starter house,". Which is sort of a bummer because you'll never get to see their true house but this also lets you gift the villagers different furniture without feeling like you're messing up their house which is nice.

-The first villager to stay in your campsite has to move to your island. You can look up resetting tricks if you want to try for a specific villager, otherwise you're locked into whichever one shows up that day. I'm 99% sure it'll be a smug villager of some kind but that might've changed!

-Flowers will not grow on the beach. You can plant them there but you won't be able to breed hybrids or anything from ones placed on the beach! You also can't put flowers, shrubs, or trees in your storage. You can store seeds/saplings but once the plant is grown you can't store it. Additionally more flowers will spawn every time it rains or snows! To combat this I'll place transparent pattern pieces around my flowerbeds. It affects the sound (stepping on placed patterns gives this muffled sound) but it'll stop your flowers from overgrowing everywhere.

-Your tools will break. It doesn't matter if you craft them or buy them from the shop. The only exception being your ladder and vaulting pole - they never break which is really helpful. For your other tools they break every 30 uses I think? My number could be off. There's no counter or any way to tell when your tools are wearing down but if you customize your tool (change the colour) it'll reset it's life and stop it from breaking!

Hopefully those tips are helpful! (if I've misspoke on any of these somebody feel free to correct me!) I hope you have fun with New Horizons

 

[NeighborNoon]

Congrats! I got my Switch & Animal Crossing a few months ago. I followed this guide for the first few days, not to the letter but it helped:

Animal Crossing New Horizons guide: first week walkthrough

Here’s a day-by-day account of how you should spend your first seven days on the island

www.polygon.com

I also spent like...an hour reloading at the point where Timmy and Tommy prompt you to pick a map, because I wanted it to be just right. I would advise you to place all your villager homes and the museum and shops fairly close together at the beginning, both for easy access and so that you don't have to move them out of the way later when you unlock terraforming.

 

[k e r f u f f l e]

Quick-Shot Advice:

- Go with your gut when deciding anything
- Don't compare your island to anyone else's
- Be smart with your bells
- Hoard materials, even if you think they're useless at that moment
- Take your sweet time
- Don't let anyone make you feel like you're playing the game 'wrong or right' (your money, your game, your rules)

I hope you have an awesome time playing NH, and good luck!

 

[Livia]

Everyone else has already given great advice. I would also add don’t rush through the beginning of the game. I think it’s the best part.

 

[Blueskyy]

Do not rush to unlock everything. Talk to the 2 villagers you start with. They may not be around for long if you so choose. Enjoy the open space. Listen to the wind breezing by you as the basic island music plays. Don't be in a hurry. Be ready to take your time building up your island.

 

[Furrton]

Takes a while to get the full Nooks so no hurry there!

 

[Bluebellie]

I would recommend to place all the starting villager homes and the shops at the beach. Once you unlock terraforming, you have more land to work with, and the buildings you previously placed become obstacles that hinder the terraforming.

 

[KatieLavender]

Okay, so unlike NL you can actually pick where your villager houses, Nook's Cranny (basically T&T mart), Able sisters, and Museum are located. However you are stuck with the original location of your Resident Services and Airport. You also cant move where your rivers connect to the ocean. If I was to start over I would try to plan out where you want your buildings to go and pick a good island layout that's easy to navigate with enough space to put those building where you want.
You can destroy the rocks in your town by eating fruit and then hitting them with a shovel or ax and then they will show up in a random spot starting the next day, so don't worry too much about their location. (if you don't tt, I reccomend not breaking your rocks as iron and stone are needed a lot early game and you'll have to wait days for them to respawn for easy access to those resources)
Also there's no perfect fruit in this game so it doesn't matter as much which fruit you start with. You will have 1 native fruit and one native flower, you will also have a secondary fruit and flower you can find on mystery island, but you will have to trade for the rest if you want them all.

Also you get an airport in one of four colors, if that's import to you. They come in blue, yellow, orange, and green, they are locked as soon as you start a new game

thank you so much!! thats really helpful : )

Post automatically merged: Apr 6, 2021

The only thing I'd say as far as progressing your island is savor every single material you get, hold it like its your long lost child. When I started I sold the material and made them into silly things and I hated myself later. Oh and I'd pick an island with a big starting area since you only get access to a small portion at first, you can always terraform later. If you need bells, tickets, or fruit or anything I am more then happy to give you some!

tysmm if i come across anything that i need i'll let you know